Abstract:
Introduction: Stroke is a medical condition that occurs due to a decrease in oxygen to the
brain which is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of disability
worldwide. Hypertension is the most common modifiable risk factor for stroke. Therefore, to
prevent the occurrence of stroke and its burden, assessing the knowledge of hypertensive
patients about warning signs of stroke is crucial.
Objective: To assess level of knowledge on stroke warning signs and associated factors
among hypertensive patients who are on follow-up at public hospitals under federal ministry
of health in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2024.
Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted at selected public hospitals
in Addis Ababa from March 1 to 30, 2024 among hypertensive patients who were on follow
up. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select 300 study participants and data
were collected through face-to-face interviews by using kobo collect and exported to SPSS
version 25. Descriptive statistics was computed and the results were presented in percentage
and frequency using tables and figures. Binary logistic regression was used to see the
association between dependent and independent variables and P-value of <0.25 was used to
select the variables for multivariable logistic regression. Hosmer and Lemshow goodness of
fit was used to test the model fitness. Odds ratio with 95% CIs was computed to see the
strength of associations and p-value < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant on the
final model.
Results: Among the total Participants in this study 30.8% (95% CI: 0.256, 0.363) had
adequate knowledge of stroke warning signs. participants ≤ 45 years of age (AOR=0.289;
95% CI: 0.112, 0.743), ≥ 5 years duration of hypertension (AOR=2.624; 95% CI: 1.005,
6.85), being physically active (AOR=0.044; 95% CI: 0.009, 0.226), having history of stroke
(AOR=0.041; 95% CI: 0.006, 0.28) and knowing someone who had a stroke (AOR=0.372;
95% CI: 0.158, 0.876) were all significantly associated with adequate stroke knowledge.
Conclusion: The study showed that being ≤45 years of age, ≥ 5 years duration of
hypertension, being physically active, having history of stroke, and knowing someone with
stroke were the predictors of good stroke warning signs knowledge among hypertensive
patients. Health education needs to be strengthen for hypertensive patients.
